As you're likely aware, this blog has never, will never, and is not asking you to ever spend a penny, nickel, dime, or any other monetary amount to access the content of this blog. My belief has always been that information should be shared on the internet, so putting my thoughts and analyses behind a paywall made no sense. Besides, who would pay for some of my rambling, incoherent scrawls on this site? In saying that, HBIC will always be free to read.
However, things are a little different for a business when it comes to major infrastructure projects, and UMFM is currently looking for whatever pocket change, donation, or cash you may have available to help us reach our goal of $32,000! As you may be aware, UMFM is a not-for-profit entity as any advertising monies are re-invested into the station's daily expenses, meaning that major upgrades are almost exclusively funded by your donations during Pledge-O-Rama!
UMFM is nearing three decades on Winnipeg airwaves, and The Hockey Show has been a part of the last thirteen years at 5:30pm CT on Thursday nights. We try to get out into the community whenever we can and we love speaking to guests from all over the planet, but that kind of technology costs some dollars which is where your Pledge-O-Rama donations matter. The mobile units and the Zoom subscriptions and cameras for face-to-face chats used by The Hockey Show are where some of the Pledge-O-Rama money is spent!
Needless to say, we appreciate any and all donations made to the station during this week of fundraising, and we're proud to offer a pile of merchandise with designs created by local artist Kristin McPherson who runs the Happyland Print Shop here in Winnipeg! By donating a specific dollar amount to the station, you can get some of this merchandise as a "thank you" for helping the station reach its goal! Incentive levels start at $25 and we keep adding merchandise as the dollar amount goes up! Donate more and get more!
Of course, it is tax season and everyone likes to beat the taxman. UMFM can assist there, too, as you can claim a tax receipt rather than taking the merchandise. You might have more glassware and t-shirts than you'd like to admit, so maybe you don't need any other glasses, mugs, or t-shirts. That's ok because UMFM can issue the tax receipt in your donation amount so you can outsmart Revenue Canada on next year's tax filing! No one likes paying taxes, so take advantage of this option to get a few extra bucks back on next year's return!
As you know, The Hockey Show likes to reward those who come through for our show as well. Not only will get you the merchandise or tax receipt if you donate, but we're going to give you a chance to win the jersey to the left - a size 58, team-issued Adizero Winnipeg Jets white jersey so you can be part of the Winnipeg Whiteout! This jersey is a beauty, and we want to outfit one of our generous listeners with some new threads! To do that, we will draw a winner from everyone who pledges to our show at the $25 level or above. The more you donate to UMFM, the better your chances will be to win the jersey. Here's how:
$25 donation = 1 entry.
$50 donation = 2 entries.
$75 donation = 3 entries.
$101.50 donation = 4 entries.
$150+ donation = 5 entries.
You help the station with your donation, and we'll potentially put you in a Jets jersey. It's that easy, but you have to donate to UMFM and The Hockey Show for you to be entered. If you want to donate to multiple shows because you're a fan of great UMFM content, we certainly won't stop you. What will matter is the amount pledged to The Hockey Show, so divide and conquer wisely!
It all goes down tomorrow on The Hockey Show beginning at 5pm CT as Jason and I will be on the air for 90 minutes tomorrow! We have lots of news to discuss, games to break down, and some prizes to award for our Survivor: NHL Playoffs contest, so we'll get after it tomorrow. We will be giving shout-outs to people who donate before and during the show as well, so make sure you get your donation in by calling the station's Pledge Line at 204−474−6610 or by hitting the "Donate" link and listen for your "thank you" during the show!
Thanks again to everyone who donates this year and who has donated in the past. You've made a difference with your donation, big or small, and we are eternally grateful to have such fantastic listeners and supporters of both The Hockey Show and UMFM!
While the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs push on, there is some great hockey being played in the ECHL right now. Two series will end tonight as the final series of the opening round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, and both results will lead to some fierce rivalries in the Division Finals round. As I wrote on Sunday, the Iowa Heartlanders and Fort Wayne Komets were playing Game Seven in Indiana tonight while the Brabham Cup-winning South Carolina Stingrays were facing the Orlando Solar Bears in North Charleston, South Carolina. Both series were entering into Game Seven tonight as the 55th and 56th Game Sevens in ECHL playoff history, and only two of the four teams would live to play another day! Who would rise to the occasion in Fort Wayne? Would the ECHL's top regular-season team advance or be upset? Let's find out as both series ended tonight!
We'll start in North Charleston where the Stingrays were hosting the Solar Bears as this Game Seven was the earlier game on the schedule. Three of the six games these two teams had played had gone to overtime, so the 25-point difference in the standings seemingly meant nothing as both teams came prepared for the other. The only game that had the losing team down by more than two goals at the end of the game was Game Five when South Carolina defeated Orlando in Orlando by a 6-2 score. As said, these teams played a much closer series than what would have been expected.
With both teams knowing that mistakes could cost them the series, this game was played much more tentatively in the early stages of the game. Both teams put eight pucks on net with no goals scored on either side, and each side was whistled for one infraction in the frame. This differed from the previous six games as the winning team hadn't scored less than three goals in any game. In short, defence ruled through the opening 20 minutes of this pivotal game.
The second period would see the Solar Bears kill off another penalty, but we'd finally get a highlight late in the frame thanks to traffic.
Hudson Thornton's shot eludes legs and South Carolina netminder Seth Eisele to find twine with 4:57 to play in the period as Orlando went up 1-0 in the game. The Solar Bears would hold that lead through the final minutes of the period to go into the second intermission with the one-goal lead provided by Thornton.
What might chap the rear ends of Stingrays fans is that the Winnipeg-born Thornton was signed by the AHL's Hershey Bears on April 10, 2024 after starring with the WHL's Prince George Cougars. He'd spend most of 2024 with the Stingrays in the pressbox, but, on December 5, 2024, the Bears loaned Thornton from the Stingrays to the Solar Bears due to the depth that the Stingrays had on the blue line. He'd play 42 games with the Solar Bears after the transaction, and his first playoff goal came against the team with whom he started the season and whose AHL affiliate is the team that assigned him to Orlando. OUCH.
The final 20 minutes saw both sides engage in a chess match with nine shots total between the two squads, five of which were put on net by South Carolina. None of them would find twine behind Jon Gillies, and Spencer Kersten would ice the game with 11 seconds to play as the Orlando Solar Bears upset the ECHL's best team by a 2-0 score in Game Seven. The last time that South Carolina was shutout in a game was on January 31, 2025 by the Norfolk Admirals, so this was a big effort from Orlando in taking down the ECHL's best team.
What makes this even more fun is that the Orlando Solar Bears will play the ECHL's defending champions and in-state rivals in the Florida Everblades in the Division Final. That series starts on Friday in Estero, Florida, and I doubt both sides will be welcoming as they meet for the sixth time in the last ten years. What may gear both sides up is that Florida is 5-0 in those previous series, so I imagine Orlando wants to snaop that streak and oust the defending champions while Florida will push for a sixth series win. Florida went 8-2-3 against Orlando this season, so the second-seeded team looks like the favourite.
The later game saw the Iowa Heartlanders tangling with the Fort Wayne Komets at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Iowa held a 3-2 series lead before the Komets pummeled them by a 6-1 score in Game Six, and both teams knew the stakes in Game Seven. The Heartlanders were looking to continue to start well as they had scored first in five of the six games - Game Six was the only game they hadn't - while the Komets were looking to defend home ice and send Iowa home disappointed. This series had been defined by both sides capitalizing on mistakes and breakdowns, so would we see both teams settle down into a defensive battle?
Iowa got off to the great start they wanted once again, outshooting the Komets 9-5 with one of those pucks denting twine behind Nathaniel Day. Iowa scored first for the sixth time in seven games as Ryan Miotto found the back of the net 5:36 into the game, but that would be the only ink on the scoresheet as no penalties were called. Iowa took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Whatever Komets head coach Jesse Kallechy said during the break seemed to be what the Komets needed because they came out and dominated the middle frame. Blake Murray scored 1:25 into the frame to tie the game at 1-1, and the Komets would take the lead at the 10:19 mark when Alex Swetlikoff beat William Rousseau. Less than three minutes later, the Komets would extend the lead!
I have watched this goal a dozen times, and I can't believe how open Ethan Keppen is when he one-times this puck into the net. It looks like Zach Dubinsky left Keppen to cut off Matt Murphy who slid that puck to a wide-open Keppen, and no one picked up #92 as he scores a beauty off that incredible pass to make it a 3-1 Fort Wayne lead! That score would hold into the intermission, and the Heartlanders had to find some goals in the final frame to keep their season going.
The Heartlanders brought everything they could in the third period as they outshot the Komets 18-5, but it would be Nathaniel Day and the Komets defence who stood tall in denying all 18 shots! Anthony Petruzzelli would add an empty-netter with 28 seconds to play, and the celebration began in Fort Wayne as the Komets rallied from a 3-2 series deficit to win 4-1 in Game Seven for the 4-3 series win!
That will setup one of the fiercest rivalries in hockey for the Central Division Final as the Fort Wayne Komets will head north to meet the division-leading Toledo Walleye on Friday. As we know from Fiona Quinn's chats on The Hockey Show, there are no friends when it comes to Fort Wayne and Toledo, and we should expect fireworks between these two teams. Toledo has won three of four playoff series between these two teams and they held a 5-3-0 record against the Komets this season. On paper, Toledo is the favourite, but this is one series that might be defined by the bruises more than the scores.
It was a fantastic night for Game Seven games in the ECHL, and we'll see eight teams resume their quests for the Kelly Cup on Friday. Jason will be pleased as the Tahoe Knight Monsters will face the Kansas City Mavericks in the Mountain Division Final, and the lone Canadian team in the Trois-Rivières Lions will battle the Winnipeg Jets' ECHL affiliate in the Norfolk Admirals in the North Division Final.
The ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs have seen eight teams sent home as the second round gets set to begin on Friday. New chapters will be written, heroes will be found, and highlights will be made. Yes, the NHL is the big stage, but the action in the ECHL has been absolutely captivating through the first round of the ECHL playoffs, and it starts again on Friday night as eight teams look to claim the Kelly Cup!
There were two NHL Stanley Cup Playoff game being played tonight, but I didn't watch either of them. Neither of the games featured Canadian teams, and that may have been done by design as the entire country of Canada was watching the results of the 2025 Canadian Federal Election. Votes were cast leading up to and during today as Canadians cast their ballots to determine who will represent the 343 ridings across Canada and, ultimately, who will be the next Prime Minister of Canada for the foreseeable future.
I'm not here to endorse or throw my support behind any party or candidate. I'm educated on the political platforms and who is running both in my riding and federally, but my vote is one of many that was cast in this election. Whether or not the party I voted for is elected is irrelevant; rather, I want to make it clear that this election rallied Canadians in a way that hasn't been seen for some time. I'm not saying that polarizing topics should be used to prompt people to vote, but those cards were played in this election.
I'm posting this article before all the votes are counted, so nothing is written in stone at this time. CBC is projecting a specific party as being the ruling party in the country based on trends, but I feel like we won't see anything finalized until the wee hours of the morning. I'm not staying up for that final determination as I have to work tomorrow, but I am here to remind everyone that you, as a voter, should be exercising your right no matter where you live.
According to Elections Canada, the institution says an estimated 7.3 million Canadians cast their ballots during the advance voting period April 18 to 21 - a record for Canadian elections. Comparatively, the 2021 Federal Election saw 5.8 million votes cast at advance voting stations, so the turnout to avoid the lines at ballot boxes today was significant. This is encouraging to see, and it gets even more impressive when you consider that Elections Canada stated that a record number of international electors had applied to vote as well.
It's important that everyone who can vote find a way to vote to ensure proper representation. By not voting, a smaller segment of the population who do vote can determine the direction of the country. Everyone likes to complain about the things we often hear about which policitians wax poetic - healthcare, jobs, minimum wage, and retirement - but voting allows one to participate in helping to shape the future of those discussions. You may feel like your vote doesn't matter, but it certainly does when considering what each of the candidates' platforms present on topics.
My hope is that you went out and voted today. Even if we have different views on how the country should be run, the policies that should be set, and the laws that should be enforced and enacted, having all eligible voters casting a vote makes Canada stronger because the voices from every riding are heard in Ottawa. Canada's individual regions and provinces are better represented, and will give the governing party a better idea on where they may have fallen short in their messaging. Canada is stronger when more of us vote.
It's 11pm Central Time. I need some sleep as I'll be up early for work, so I'll find out if the projected winning party holds a majority or minority government at that time. What I do know is that I'm proud of Canadians tonight for the overwhelming voting numbers shown during this election. We can all look forward and work together to continue making Canada the best country on the planet!
Until next time, thanks for exercising your right!
There's something to be said for teams that find their backs against the wall in the playoffs. We've seen some NHL teams push back after falling behind 2-0 in series, but there is some excellent drama brewing in the ECHL as the Fort Wayne Komets returned home needing a win to keep their playoffs alive after the Iowa Heartlanders had built a 3-2 series lead through five games. The series had featured overtime goals, big hits, phenomenal saves, and highlight-reel goals, but the Komets were facing elimination tonight as they stepped onto home ice.
As the title of this article states, the Komets captured victory with a statement game tonight as they were all over the Heartlanders in this game. Fort Wayne outshot Iowa by a 16-5 count in the first period, and two of those shots found twine including this beauty shorthanded goal by former Alberta Golden Bears forward Nolan Volcan!
How many times did we see Volcan do something like that in Canada West? It's good to see the former Golden Bears sniper finding his game in the playoffs with his first ECHL playoff goal in his fourth game this spring. And he did it shorthanded! Congratulations go out to Nolan for his first professional playoff goal in helping Fort Wayne to victory!
After going up 3-0 midway through the second period, Iowa did break the shutout of Edmonton Oilers prospect Nathaniel Day, but that was the only puck to get by Day on this night. Fort Wayne would add three more goals for a 6-1 win in Game Six, and they'd force a Game Seven on Tuesday night at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. It comes down to one game to advance to the Central Division Final where the Toledo Walleye wait for the winner.
It might have been a bit of an emotional game for the Komets who came out on fire and never let up after losing one of their top players in Odeen Tufto late in Game Five in Iowa to a broken left leg. From all reports, Tufto had successful surgery on Saturday, but he'll be forced to watch rather than participate for what sounds like the remainder of the playoffs. Tufto's absence allowed the Komets to make a few player moves, and Volcan was added to the roster for this pivotal game where his inclusion proved vital.
Coming into this game, though, the Komets had not played well for a full sixty minutes. Iowa had opened the scoring in each of the five previous games, but there were too many mistakes in Games Four and Five that allowed the Heartlanders to swing the series from a 2-1 series deficit to a 3-2 series lead. Komets head coach Jesse Kallechy wasn't impressed by his team's lack of focus when it came to Game Five.
"It's tough because we haven't made some of the mistakes we've made all year and now it’s the difference," Kallechy told James Krause of The Journal Gazette following the game on Thursday. "When we make a mistake, it's big and it's in the back of our net and that's kind of been the series for us."
Whatever was said or done at practice and in the days leading up to Game Six seemed to refocus the Komets entirely as they outshot the Komets in all three periods en route to a 36-19 edge in shots. The Komets did run into some penalty problems in the third period, but the penalty-killing units were solid in not giving up a goal, and both sides were sending messages for Game Seven with scraps. Between the score and fisticuffs tonight, Game Seven should be fun!
Despite suffering the 6-1 loss tonight, Heartlanders head coach Derek Damon seemed pretty upbeat for the one-game-takes-all opportunity.
"It's the best two words in hockey: Game 7," Damon told Jeff Johnson of The Gazette. "It's what you live for as a player. It's what you live for, to be a part of it. I've been through quite a few in my day as a player, this is my first as a coach, so I'm excited. It's a big opportunity. This group is a special group, and I know that we are going to be ready to play a big game on Tuesday."
Both teams will likely be ready for a battle on Tuesday night in Fort Wayne, and it might be coincidental that the game is taking place at the War Memorial Coliseum. Expect both teams to bring their best as they play the winner-takes-all game of this series, and may the best team win because a rested Toledo Walleye team lurks on the horizon!
There likely aren't a lot of people paying attention to the Winnipeg Jets' ECHL affiliate, but the Norfolk Admirals have one series in the books after they dispatched the Wheeling Nailers tonight. The third-seeded team in the North Division standings upset the second-seeded team in five games as Norfolk will move on while Wheeling will head home and examine where things went wrong. With the Jets having a handful of prospects with the Admirals, the future may be bright for the Moose and the Jets if a first-round victory is proof of their talents. The Admirals will head north for their next series after winning tonight in Wheeling, Pennsylvania!
Three points separated Wheeling and Norfolk in the standings at the end of the season, so it appeared that the two teams might be in for a long battle. Instead, the Admirals opened the series with back-to-back shutouts and three-straight wins as Wheeling had no answer for Norfolk's stifling defence and goaltending as they took a stranglehold on the series over the week that the first three games were played. With the series clearly in Norfolk's favour, the only question seemed to be whether they would win in Wheeling or in Norfolk.
Before we get to tonight's game, it should be noted that Moose defender Darick Louis-Jean was solid throughout the series as he posted three goals and two helpers while being good at both ends of the ice. Moose goaltender Thomas Milic picked up three wins in four games while posting a 1.25 GAA and a .961 save percentage, and future Moose netminder Domenic DiVincentiis is 1-for-1 in playoff games as he picked up the series-clinching win while posting a 2.00 GAA and a .935 save percentage. While most of the scoring came from players signed by the Admirals, it's pretty clear the goaltending played a large part in helping Norfolk advance.
Game One saw Milic turn in a 29-save shutout while all of Darick Louis-Jean, Brady Fleurent, Grant Hebert, and Jack O'Leary all had tallies for the Admirals in the 4-0 victory. The Admirals would repeat the same performance in Game Two as Darick Louis-Jean, Ben Zloty, Denis Smirnov, and Sean Montgomery found the back of the net while Milic stopped all 33 shots he faced as Norfolk swept the two games at home to start the series. The next three games would be played in Wheeling, so the Admirals had the advantage as they hit the road.
It would be six days after Game Two that the third game got underway in Wheeling, but the Admirals didn't slow down. Denis Smirnov and Sean Montgomery put Norfolk up 2-0 before Milic surrendered his first goal in the series at the 15:56 mark of the second period - 155:56 of shutout hockey! Ryan Chyzowski would add one more goal before the end of the period as Norfolk held a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. Add in third period goals by Colton Young and Brandon Brodzinski, and Norfolk had a 3-0 series lead thanks to a 5-1 victory in Game Three. It was do-or-die for Wheeling at this point.
Game Four went last night as the Nailers had to win to keep the series going, and they found the back of the net just 2:05 seconds into the first period, but that goal would be erased 42 seconds later by Norfolk's Ryan Chyzowski. Wheeling would add another goal in the frame, and they'd add two more in third period as the Admirals faltered in Game Four by a 4-1 score, but the series was still clearly in their favour at a 3-1 count. However, Game Five would be the third game in three nights, so it was expected that we might see changes.
That brought us to tonight's Game Five contest where Domenic DiVincentiis got the start for the Admirals, and he was sensational in the blue paint. Denis Smirnov and Brandon Osmundson scored 53 seconds apart to put Norfork up 2-0 by the 4:00 mark, but Wheeling would get one back when David Jankowski found room past DiVincentiis as Norfolk took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Colton Youn restored the two-goal lead early in the third period, Wheeling cut it to a one-goal lead, but Norfolk would close out the series with goals by Young and Darick Louis-Jean for the 5-2 win!
Norfolk was posted some impressive numbers in closing out the series. They were 4-0 in games where they scored first, they only allowed seven goals in five games while posting two shutouts, and they allowed just one power-play goal while being shorthanded 12 times. Norfolk didn't really struggle in scoring goals they outscored Wheeling 7-3 in the first period, 4-1 in the second period, and 8-3 in the third period. They were 3-of-18 on the power-play which isn't great, but they won the special teams battle in this series!
The Admirals will now head north of the border for their next series as the top-seeded Trois-Rivières Lions await. The Lions were dominant in sweeping the Reading Royals, ourscoring them 17-7, but needing double-overtime in Game Three for the win. Alex Beaucage has four goals and seven points, Xavier Cormier has seven helpers, and Nicolas Guay has three goals and five points. Luke Cavallin won all four games in the Trois-Rivières crease, posting a 1.59 GAA and a .945 save percentage. The Lions finished the season with 98 points.
Games One and Two will happen on May 2 and 4 in Trois-Rivières, and I suspect that these games will be a battle as both teams look to grab the lead in the series. Games Three through Five will happen in Norfolk on May 8, May 9, and May 11, respectively. Game Five may not be necessary, and both Games Six and Seven may not be necessary either as the series shifts back to Trois-Rivières on May 13 and 14. Whichever team wins this series will face the winner of the ECHL South Division with a Kelly Cup berth on the line.
With Winnipeg up 2-1 on St. Louis, we'll see if they can follow their ECHL affiliate's lead in taking a stranglehold on their series tomorrow. Thanks to Norfolk's five-game win over Wheeling, they'll have a week off to get ready for their visit to Quebec. I'm hoping they can earn a split in La Belle Province so they come home to Norfolk with a shot to close out the series, but the Lions have been impressive all season. This series should be a beauty beginning next Friday!
Here's hoping the kids can keep the momentum rolling!
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